Hotshot
by zeman1
Summary: A former child soldier tries to survive an apocalypse.
1. Chapter 1

"Why are you like this, Jonah?" she inquired, while laying on the bed, a determined and piercing look in her eyes. He sat with his back on the wall, his body covered with a blanket, which concealed a suppressed handgun. It was hardly the most comfortable position to sleep in, but if somebody decided to attack, it offered him a great advantage since he would be able to quickly roll away and get on his feet. He remained silent a minute, his face covered with darkness, while looking at the curtains that covered the windows. They would otherwise give them a view of the calm scene at the mostly empty street. Corpses dotted the area and a few people were walking slowly and erratically in the moonlight.

He lifted his head and his face could finally be seen. The most noticeable feature about him was the large, red patch of skin on his right cheek, as though that part was burnt by scalding fire. Otherwise, he looked fairly unremarkable with short, very messy dark brown hair. A degrading look slowly appeared on his face. He calmly and tersely said, "Curiosity killed the cat."

"I survived what has been thrown at me so far, which half of the planet couldn't; I don't think curiosity can do much." the reply came back. The degrading look went away and was replaced with a pair of black eyes that were looking on the floor, lost in what appears to be deep thought. Silence followed, but it was broken by the young woman's voice which said, "I mean, you slit throats, you steal, all without a care in the world. No regret whatsoever and the worst part is that you're not older than 15." More silence."You don't deserve to know." he weakly replied."Oh, really?" she said derisively. He could tell she was not about to give up. Besides, he thought, "What's the point of this." He once again met her eyes, while his were filled with bitter coldness and defeat, and he started talking.


	2. Chapter 2

"I was born into fairly average family of five in an isolated, small town" , he began "My father was a carpenter and my mother looked after us, me and my brothers. Two of them actually. Well, she didn't do much looking after, but a lot of worrying. Since my brothers and I would often play hide-and-seek for hours upon hours. My favourite spot was the rooftops and that's when I learnt free running . I used to try to climb up the buildings,utilizing anything I could get my hands on, such as window ledges, little protuberant rocks or a small hole in the wall. With a lot of luck, time and effort climbing up a building became as easy as walking down a street. Thanks to those years I had speed and agility which would become fundamental later in my life.

When I was 10, I was often the target of jokes due to my short figure and even shorter hair, which was an unusual shade of light grey, yet I still made some friends. These happy times, however, were abruptly cut off when news of political unrest and an uprising reached us. A full year later, a civil war was in full swing, yet my parents kept reassuring us that we're going to be fine, that it's all OK. I knew it was a lie; I may have been a kid,but I knew it. And one day I was proven right.

My father had decided that I was old enough to run errands for him. This resulted in me leaving our town for the first time; in a rusty old bike. He had me memorize an extensive set of directions to the nearest town, but that, I soon found out, was meaningless. I bade my family goodbye and left. It was a hot summer afternoon; a few minutes in my journey and I was already sweating. But the heat soon became the least of my worries because I had heard a loud a rumbling noise. I looked up to the sky and I saw it; a fighter plane flying over me. I stopped and stared in shock. I had only heard of them in the radios and television; that they could drop bombs and drones and leave thousands dead, all in an instant. As I was lost in my thought and imagination I heard another noise. Not a rumbling one, but an explosion; one so loud the ground shook and my ears went numb: temporarily, I could only hear a sound like a siren. At that point, I whirled about and took off at full speed back to my town. I didn't know what I was thinking or why I was doing my actions. After all nothing could happen to my hometown, my birthplace, my family. But then, as soon as I tried to stop and tell myself how irrational my thinking was, I arrived. Oh, how I wish I didn't.

Everything, everything, from the people to the buildings to the food stalls, were devastated to unrecognizable bits of what they were. Not even the ground was spared for there was a huge crater in the place in which the bomb had hit the ground. Blood was everywhere, people's bloody organs or body parts were splattered on the walls or on the ground and I tripped over a corpse and  
looked at it once before I immediately closed my eyes, got up and kept on moving, not taking in any of what I was seeing yet, all of it etched on to my mind like words engraved on rocks. I took care to close my eyes as my feet unconsciously took me to my destination that I wanted and didn't want to visit; my house. I was sincerely grateful for the fact the building fell on in itself,sparing me the sight of their bodies, for I already knew the conclusion. Ever since I heard the explosion, I knew. Yet, I lied to myself. I stood there for a few moments; or was it minutes? I didn't know for how long I just stood there, my mind blank as an empty canvas, but all that I knew was that soon there were footsteps.

Surprised, I held my breath and quietly as a I could, lifted a large piece of debris  
and played dead while under sound of the footsteps slowly became louder  
and louder and eventually,I was sure he was standing right next to me. But he just kept on walking. I dared to lift my eyes a few millimeters and to my surprise somebody had survived. It was our next-door was lying on the ground, his body ,or rather what remained of it, covered with blood. He slightly stirred ,something both of us noticed, for the man had started to move towards him. I saw him clearly for the first was well-equipped, with an assault rifle in his hand, full body armour,grenades on his belt,a light brown uniform but no helmet and a bald head of fair skin crouched next to my neighbour and told him something I couldn't hear.  
Then, he shot him.

I bit my lips to stop myself from screaming as I very slowly left my hiding spot.  
"You're not getting away, murderer",I thought,"I will kill you." But how?  
I pondered for his armour would protect him from projectiles and I was no match in a fist fight. Until it hit me; his head!He had no helmet,I could take advantage of my train of thought was interrupted when the man's voice said into his radio"About to finish performing final perimeter ." "This is it," I thought,"now or never.".As I tailed him silently, my foot almost crushed was a long,very thin shard of glass. I picked it now the soldier had decided that there was no alive and made to leave the town. I quickly made  
it to a nearby lamppost which had somehow a year of experience, I effortlessly climbed to the top of man turned a corner,yet unbeknownst to him he passed a street lamp."Now or never."I clenched the shard and jumped.  
I could feel the glass feel penetrate something and a faint popping sound which I realized was an artery being cut open and something warm splattered across my face. I let go of the shard and instinctively broke my fall. I got up and turned around to see the man writhing in pain, for I had stabbed him in the throat.  
"Why?" he barely spoke in a whisper.  
"You,you killed him." My voice was shaking.  
"Out of... misery...U.N...me " He croaked, before the last bit of life left the peacekeeping troop.


	3. Chapter 3

"I think I've said enough for now." Jonah abruptly took his eyes of the  
ground for the first time since he started his story and when he looked at her, she had her hand over her mouth and a tear in her eye."You should get some sleep, Claire." he added."A-alright then." she then turned over and stayed still but was clearly awake. He'd usually wait for her to sleep first, out of caution, but in this case he was simply far too tired and before he knew it, he found himself dozing off.

A few seconds later, or so it appeared to Jonah, he was suddenly woken up by the faint sound of a door opening and footsteps. He instinctively removed his safety on his pistol and grabbed the small knife he hid in his pocket. Claire was still asleep. "Good, she'd only get in the way." thought Jonah. He crept through the door, hugged the wall in front of him and inched his head just enough to sneak a look around the corner. He was in a large two-story house, which had a huge living room, overlooked by a long railing, that stretched across the perimeter of the house. He took a look below him and saw a small group of young men and women, who all looked around twenty or so. "Two guys armed, one girl with a sword, the last one weaponless." Jonah noted. "Place looks empty; I think we can stay here." the thinner of the two men said. Indeed, the other one was fat and wore glasses, yet held his rifle much more carefully than the other one and had his finger on the trigger. Jonah observed that the thin man still had the safety on his gun on. The sword-equipped girl next to him exclaimed "Thank God, I thought this would go on forever." and started to move towards the stairs. He had to act fast, but for all his skill with the knife and pistol, there were still too many to engage directly. "I hate to do it but a hostage is my only way out of here." muttered Jonah to himself."But how am I supposed to close the gap between me and them, avoid getting shot and then take the weaponless girl h-" His eyes met the chandelier a few meters ahead and he immediately knew what to do.

He wasn't sure if he ever leaped such a great distance before, but risks had to be taken. A small mistake, a foot incorrectly planted and he'd find himself sprawling on the ground, with a few broken bones and at the mercy of strangers. He took a deep breath and a few steps back, started his brief sprint, placed his foot on the railing and performed his leap of faith."Who's there?!" he heard one of them shout, but it didn't matter to Jonah; he had to make it, he just had to. And finally, he felt his fingers latch onto the chandelier and he, despite its swinging, pulled himself up, but not before hearing a gunshot and sensing something extremely hot brush past his head. "Don't shoot!" he heard someone cry. That wasn't the first time he experienced that sensation, one that was far too close for comfort, but he had to take advantage of his opponents' moment of hesitation and that he did. He deliberately fell right on the woman , used her as a cushion for his fall and in an instant, had his knee on her back, twisted her arm and placed his knife on prime position to slash her throat open.

By the time he lifted his head to face the strangers, two guns were pointed at him the sword girl was already readying her self to sprint towards him."Easy now, let's not make any rash decisions." the thinner man said, without lowering his weapon. "You should've let me shoot him, Jacob" the fat one said through clenched teeth."I'm not looking for much here, if you co-operate, that is." Jonah retorted. Jacob raised his eyebrow in reply. "LET MY SISTER GO, NOW" screamed the other girl at the top of her lungs, while tightly clenching her blade, itching to kill. Jonah responded by twisting his hostage's arm even further. His actions were followed by screams of agony. "All right, all right", Jacob paused a moment, "State your terms, kid" He seemed to be the leader, for at this the rest seemed to calm down. "Just hand over all your weapons, simple as that. Then we can talk, perhaps strike a bargain." suggested Jonah. The three looked at each other a moment before laying down their arms and sliding them across the room. They had an oddly relaxed look on their faces which prompted Jonah to firmly bark  
"ALL of them." With a disappointed look and expressions of frustration, the glasses-wearing man reached into his jacket to reveal a very small revolver and tossed it over.


	4. Chapter 4

"All right then," said Jonah as he grabbed the guns,"now maybe we ca-".He was interrupted by a loud banging coming from the front door. He turned around to meet the source of the noise and, to his shock, it wasn't only the front door;the windows were also being smacked by them. Hordes upon hordes of people,with horribly disfigured faces and blood-stained clothes, were pressing upon the windows, attempting to break them. "Shit, they're here!" exclaimed Jacob, but Jonah didn't need telling twice. He had already let go of his hostage and their weapons, sprinted past the strangers and dodged a tackle from the sword girl. By the time she recovered, he was already at the top of the stairs. He saw Claire, who had already witnessed everything, and quickly ordered "Grab your supplies; we're jumping ship." He swiftly entered the room which he had just slept in, grabbed his backpack,which had some supplies and extra ammunition for his pistol. He hurried down the stairs and to a window, all while pretending that the strangers were just a part of a wall. Jonah was about to leave when he heard Jacob's voice from across the room.

"Hang on, we're coming along with you two." shouted Jacob.  
"NO WE ARE NOT" protested the sword girl loudly.  
"For god's sake, this isn't the time to argue, Ellen" he shot back.  
"Don't follow me. I've got enough on my back as it is." Jonah said in tones of annoyance, indicating Claire, who had just appeared with her own large backpack. She blushed and was about to retort but Jonah didn't wait for Jacob and Ellen  
to finish their arguing or for Claire's reply; he had already left and was, as quietly as he could, running across the lawn. "Slow down, Jonah." said Claire loudly through clenched teeth. "Keep it down, those things react to sound!" he whispered back. Jonah was starting to get sick of them all and their they not realize that one person makes much less noise than six?! he angrily told himself. He had pulled himself up the fairly short wall which surrounded the house, then he turned around and helped Claire. To his dismay, Jacob and the others had picked up their weapons and were already following them. In this case, he would usually shoot the armed ones dead or shout out a final warning. But ammo was scarce and precious and he couldn't afford shouting lest he attracts the Infected. Time wasn't a luxury he had, so he decided to just drop down, continue towards his destination and hope they somehow don't make it while following him. Yet to his disappointment, as he was running down the street, he heard Jacob's voice."Where are we going?" Jonah stopped, sighed and as though it hurt him, said  
"Back to my hideout."  
"You have a hi-"  
"Yes, I do. Now shut up. All of you."  
They did as they were told and soon they were navigating their way through dark alleyways and shortcuts, which Jonah knew so well. After all, he had spent many days to perfect his free running skills there. He seemed to be completely undisturbed by the putrid smell that seemed to originate from those alleyways. The others, however, were not keen on hiding their revulsion, as a few of them made sounds of disgust. The rest of the their journey was silent and uneventful, until Jonah caught a glimpse of an armed and familiar couple walking side by side. "What is it?" asked Jacob, but Jonah was unaware of anything happening around him and had already taken cover behind a dumpster and started to analyze the situation.

"Those two, if they see me.." thought Jonah, " They must've heard all the Infected rush towards that house. Killing them isn't worth the trouble. If I can just sneak past them..." But the situation quickly took a turn for the worse, when Ellen shouted "Oh thank God, there are other survivors here." Before Jonah could even bark an order, they all had rushed towards the couple, except for Claire. She crouched next to Jonah and quietly suggested "Should we leave them and take another way to the hideout? Come on, we both know what will happen to them." She had a faint smile and a look of unusual satisfaction on her face that surprised Jonah. She didn't come off as the type that was similar to him; that would happily ignore others that march towards their death, but this was no time for ramblings. "I'm tempted to do that but-"  
At that moment they heard Jacob clearly saying " Yeah, there are others with us.  
They're over there. Not sure why they haven't joined us yet." He pointed towards the dumpster Claire and Jonah were hiding behind, unaware of the consequences of his actions. Jonah inwardly cursed Jacob to the death. Claire didn't wait for Jonah's instructions this time, instead she joined the others with a huge smile on her face and exclamations of joy and thanks. "You said there's one more, am I correct?" asked the woman's gentle voice. Jonah sighed and quickly checked that his gun was loaded. "What a waste of ammo." he thought, as he finally left his hiding spot.

"You!" the man snarled. He instantly tightened the grip on his gun so hard, it started shaking. The woman, however, maintained her gentle voice and welcomed Jonah without a change in tone. She quiety rested her hand on the man's gun, as though to calm his down. He still didn't take his eyes of Jonah. "Isn't this great?!" exclaimed Ellen, "We can all make it together." Jonah took a few steps forward, closer to the couple and looked them in the eye. At this point, an uncomfortable, tense atmosphere seemed to overcome them all. Ellen reluctantly stuttered "Y-you guys, um, w-why don't we just..." But she left her sentence incomplete for no one was paying attention. They all seemed to be staring at Jonah for it was at his arrival that the mood changed. He, in return, concentrated at the couple, who glared back. Jonah had done it before and he was sure he could do it again. He closed his eyes a moment and took his hands out of his pocket. The result was just as he expected. The impulsive man seized this moment of relaxation and immediately aimed his gun at Jonah. His target, however, was too quick for him. Jonah had already closed the short distance between the woman and him and pulled her in front of himself. The man, who had nothing but Jonah on his mind, opened fire on his victim's current position. Jonah smirked and laughed silently to himself as the woman's body acted as his shield. His plan had worked. As soon as the gunfire stopped, he threw the now lifeless body onto the ground, aimed his pistol at the horrified man's face. It was too late now.


	5. Chapter 5

The man's body hit the floor with a thud that pulled Jonah back to reality like a fish out of water. He was not fighting anymore; he was Jonah, who was being harassed and followed by five walking, talking annoyances. The rush faded away as he realized how the others would react to his actions. "Oh my god, oh my god..." Ellen's sister whispered, "You killed them. You killed them both." She had her hands over her cheeks and despite the fact she merely whispered, the silence seemed to magnify her statements a hundred times. It didn't take much time for her words to hit the others in their heads and soon enough, Jacob was the first to come to a conclusion and take action. The unmistakable click of a gun being raised and Jonah didn't have to turn to know where it was being pointed.

"I'm sorry b-but I have to do this. If you'd do it to others, you'd it to us too." He said it as if he had to justify what he's about to do, to prevent misunderstandings. Jonah's gaze didn't leave the wall in front of him for it was too difficult to face the others. Instead, he returned the favor but it was far quicker than Jacob's handwork. "If you're gonna kill someone, don't give him a chance. Yet, you did. Why?" Silence. "You didn't really mean it when you pointed that gun, did you? Or maybe it's because I'm not one of them?" "So if you're gonna kill me, you might aswell do it now, with my back turned on you. In fact, I don't even know where I'm aiming." After an eternity, Jonah turned his head around to see Jacob's arm shaking and his own aiming slightly off-target. The others had expressions of awe and horror which managed to hurt Jonah more than the scar on his cheek. He dreaded these moments; these moments of consequences and realization. They managed to deconstruct him like a surgeon working on a complex operation. Finally, both boys lowered their weapons. However, that was it.

Jonah walked right past them and toward his hideout. He hoped that they would wisen up and part ways with him but he doubted it._ "The weak will always-"_ Claire swiftly appeared next to him, just like an assassin who stalks his victim. Jonah just realized, with a low gasp, that she was not present while he spoke with Jacob. He managed to hide his surprise and shot a glance at Claire's face. To Jonah's disappointment, it was completely devoid of expression. "That was... interesting." she said. He didn't reply because his brain was wrecking itself with suggestions and suspicions on where and what she was doing. Jonah was relieved when she didn't press on, but on the other hand, he couldn't help but feel uncomfortable around her presence. But he had to keep a calm head at all costs. However, that proved challenging when he sensed the Jacob and the others, once again, catching up to them. _"This is going to be way harder than it should be."_


	6. Chapter 6

"Get a grip on yourself, Adriana. You can't afford to space out now," Ellen said to her sister. They had not been walking for long yet she was stopping for and simply staring ahead for no apparent reason. "Of course, of course..." came back a distracted reply. Her normally straight brown hair looked had not been combed or touched for weeks and an amount of dandruff had started appearing. Her clothes did not fare better. She shook her head and took a good look at her filthy, dirt-covered hands, her jeans which had holes in them on a few places, and ran a hand through her straggled hair. "Ugh, it's been so long since I last showered. I'm a total mess." she quietly complained to Ellen. "How pretty you look will be the least of your worries when they come after you." hissed an irritated Jonah who was a few feet in front of them all and keeping a very careful vigil for their encounter wasn't exactly quiet. "Besides, why are you all still following me?"

"Well..." There was a brief pause in which Jacob looked at his friends. "At first, it was because we sort of didn't know what to do. Y'know, trapped in that house like that. And it looked like you knew what you were doing. This time it's because I need to know why you killed those two." Jonah shot him a quick glance, as though surprised, before asking, "What's it to you?" "Well, obviously you three had met before, seeing as how you did what you did... Anyway, I need to know if those two are part of a larger group." "What makes you think there's a group?" Jonah quickly asked. "Look around you, almost everyone who's still alive this late in the game has teamed up with a few others. Everyone's moving in packs and frankly I'm surprised you aren't. Loners like you aren't that common. Besides, those two had guns and everyone knows that the police station has been totally raided . A couple of people can't do that; it was a team effort."

"So anybody who's armed must be a part of this group, is that your thinking?" "Yeah, but you have a gun and you weren't exactly best buddies with them. Anyway, aren't we there yet? And won't you answer my question?" "We're almost there." said Jonah, who was now carefully checking the street for signs of life. They had left the dark alleyways, much to their noses' relief, and reached the main roads. He beckoned them to cross the street and with a swift glance to ensure that Claire was right behind him, opened a house's front gate.

A small and modest garden greeted them, but it wasn't a warm greeting. The grass wasn't standing upright; it looked like a man who had been hung, its tip slightly drooping, giving up hope. Yellow streaked through it for it was deprived of something vital to its survival. A solitary tree's orange, drained and falling leaves seamlessly integrated themselves with the dying ground, the garden a faint glimmer of its past glory days. The house, from the outside, appeared to be in a far better state, but its two stories and various rooms still gave off a derelict aura, as all the windows had been made a light shade of brown with all the dust shrouding them. A few months ago, when the garden was booming and the house's inhabitants were leaving and entering everyday, you would've imagined it to belong to a succesful lawyer or doctor. But it wasn't a wealthy, middle-class man opening the front door; it was Jonah and his newfound teammates, whether he liked it or not. The interior was similar to the outside: neglected and in disarray. The first room visible, the living room, had multiple travelling bags scattered about the floor and a few items, such as clothes and a few broken photo frames, here and there. "Not doing much to clean up after yourself, are you?" commented Adriana. "I don't pick up after others." said Jonah, who was on his knees and reaching under the carpet for something . "Isn't this your hideout?" He strode right past her and into the kitchen. They all followed and the first thing the glasses-wearing man did was to almost run to the refrigerator, eager to empty it of its contents. "Don't bother, stupid. You think I didn't already eat what little there was these past two weeks?" "Edward's the name. And just what are you doing?" Jonah was crouching and undoing the four screws on the corners of a kitchen counter's tiles. No reply came back for he was concentrating very much on his work. Soon, Jonah was done and he pulled the block out of its place to reveal a staircase which lead into darkness. "Whoa!" "This is my hideout. Now if all of you would hang back a bit, that'd be great.

Jonah rushed down the stairs, his mind doing all what it can to analyze the situation and come up with a plan, whether long or short-term. He absent-mindedly groped the wall for a light switch and pressed it on. An ancient lamp flickered a few times before properly illuminating the underground room. It was dangerously suspended; the only thing separating it from crashing down and spreading its sharp fragments all around the room was a single, tightly stretched wire, begging to be cut and placed out of its misery. It hung directly above a barely supported wooden table, its legs threatening to slip past and send the piece of furniture and its contents clattering down. A map of the city, littered with various X's, circles, and notes, got the lion's share of the tabletop. An untouched water bottle stood next to it, its interior carved with a myriad of evaporating water droplets, slowly turning into storage for nothing. However, a block of what appeared to be steel, taped to yet another smaller block, was placed next to a very small device, which had a trigger built into it. There was a lone mattress resting on the room's corner, a few coils poking out of its end. Jonah's first action was to stuff the two blocks and the device behind the mattress. He scanned his run-down quarters for a few moments before calling out, "All right you guys come on down." footsteps and clatter followed, but they were too brief for Jonah's suspicions. Had they seen him hide it?

Claire's figure was the first to appear, her face turned and mildly chattering with their recent teammates. "Oh, so you've all been together from Day 1? That's pretty damn impressive." "Yeah," Ellen replied, "we're all from the same college. We were the first to escape campus and we ran into Jacob and Edward. Turns out all of us chose the same gate to leave from. And then things just... worked out after that." "Really, you're all so lucky!" "That's quite an understatement," cut Jonah's sharp voice. They looked at him with irritation, as though he was some outsider who rudely interrupted their conversation. "You see, I'm much more concerned with how you two got your guns." He gestured towards Jacob and Edward, who consciously tried to shield their weapons. "And what were you doing before we ran into each other?" "Actually, I was just about to ask you that," shot Jacob's quick reply. "I'd prefer if you guys answer first." Worried looks were exchanged between the four friends and it was clear that their leader's next action eluded him. Some whispers and nods were shared between them. Jonah took this opportunity to steal a glance at Claire. She was leaning on a wall, her arms crossed,and relaxed eyes looking straight Jonah. Their eyes caught each other for a moment, but she quickly diverted her gaze towards Ellen. There was something about the way she did it that unsettled Jonah, however he could give no more thought to the matter when Jacob straightened up and cleared his throat.


End file.
